Mundi Ventures Closes on €750 Million for Kembara, its Largest Deep Tech and Climate Fund

Mundi Ventures, backing bold and purpose-driven founders, led by Partners Javier Santiso, Lluis Vinas, Moises Sanchez, Rafaela Andrade, Rajeev Singh-Molares, and others, has just completed a €750 million first close for Kembara, its fifth fund and largest to date. 

Europe invests billions in early-stage climate startups, yet many stall at Series B, according to a recent report. New funds are emerging to address this gap, including Spain-based Mundi Ventures’ Kembara Fund I.

A regulatory filing in Spain indicates the deep tech–focused fund could reach a final close of up to €1.25 billion, though raising €750 million in two years as a first fund proved challenging in the current environment, according to co-founder and GP Yann de Vries. Managed by a specialist team within Mundi Ventures, Kembara operates across Madrid, London, Barcelona, and Paris, with Mundi Ventures founder Javier Santiso joining as co-founder and GP alongside a newly disclosed senior partner team.

Alongside de Vries and Santiso, Robert Trezona and Pierre Festal joined as general partners, with former Atomico partner Siraj Khaliq serving as senior strategic advisor. Their combined track records attracted institutional investors seeking European growth capital to scale university spinouts into industrial businesses, while also exposing the structural challenges facing climate and deep tech startups, insights shaped in part by de Vries’ experience at Lilium, which shut down in 2024 after raising over $1 billion and going public via SPAC.

De Vries argues that Lilium failed due to a lack of growth capital, an experience that highlighted Europe’s broader scale-up gap rather than a shortage of innovation or startups. Addressing this, Kembara will focus on Series B and C rounds, writing initial checks of €15–40 million into around 20 companies, with capacity for follow-on investments of up to €100 million per company to support manufacturing scale and global expansion.

While unusually large by European standards, similar funds are emerging, including Lazard Elaia Capital and a new Plural fund reportedly targeting up to €1 billion. Even so, the capital-intensive nature of climate and deep tech scale-ups limits the impact of equity alone, a lesson drawn from Lilium that led Kembara to pursue a different financing approach.

Drawing on firsthand experience, Kembara aims to productize non-dilutive financing to help deep tech founders reduce risk, optimize capital structures, and limit dilution, while enabling select LPs to co-invest in top performers. Geopolitical considerations are also driving interest, with growing support expected from European sovereign funds, governments, and corporates to build global deep tech champions from Europe.

Geopolitical considerations also shape Kembara’s focus on areas such as dual-use and defense tech to support European sovereignty. Rather than replacing foreign capital, the fund targets under-the-radar European companies with the potential to scale into global champions, citing DeepMind as an example of a business that lacked growth capital and exited too early.

As pressure grows to keep strategic companies European across areas like quantum, semiconductors, and space, Kembara aims to build global champions that operate across borders. The fund’s international outlook is reflected in its name and leadership, with plans to attract global investors in future closings to secure broader market access and resilient supply chains.